Shut up about Barclay Perkins - Let's Brew Wednesday - 1953 Ben Truman
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It seems a while since we last had a Let's Brew post. And, yet again, this isn't Wednesday. But I think you're going to enjoy today's beer, an early version of Ben Truman.
Ben Truman is a good example of the type of stronger Pale Ale that many breweries introduced after WW II. It was heavily advertised by Truman in the 1950's and designed to compete with beers like Bass and Double Diamond.
Two different strengths were produced, the stronger one being bottled. I'm not sure if it ever appeared in cask-conditioned form. There was deinitely a keg version, which was still knocking around when I drank in the Tenterden in Bromley by Bow in the late 1970's. Not that I ever tried it. I didn't drink keg, if I could avoid it. That it no longer exists in any form, says much about how much British brewing has changed in recent decades. From national brand to the great slop bucket in the sky in half a lifetime.
This is how Andrew Campbell described Ben Truman in the mid 1950's:
"As we write, an intensive advertising campaign is in course to establish their beer Ben Truman as a national beer. Of similar strength to Bass, Double Diamond, and Worthington, it is a good solid beer, with a strong flavour. "
"The Book Of Beer" by Andrew Campbell, 1956, pages 204-205.
This beer wasn't brewed at the original Truman brewery on Brick Lane but it their Burton outpost, built in the late 19th century specifically to brew Pale Ale. Some London brewers were reluctant to attempt Pale Ale brewing in London and had them made in areas with more suitable water. Truman had a brewery in Burton, Courage had one in Alton, Hampshire.
That's it from me. I'll just hand you over to Kristen . . . . .
